Founded in 1823, Mortlach is one of the original distilleries dedicated to malt production, predating its much larger neighbor The Glenfiddich by a few decades. After over a century of whisky-making, the distillery was rebuilt in 1963 and purchased by Diageo. Since then, almost all of the spirit made there has been dedicated to blends and the few releases of the single malt have been snatched up by avid followers. We jumped on an opportunity to purchase our own single casks and chose a 1995 vintage to blend into a small batch. All of the whisky comes from a single batch that was aged for 18 years in a refilled bourbon barrel. Honey, lemon, and fresh lavender notes play off of each other on the nose, which is highly expressive overall and leans towards in-bloom florals. After some time, signs of apricot and toasted malt become more apparent, leveling out to a gentle, sweet note of green grape. On the palate, the whisky is medium-light with more oak coming through via flavors of vanilla and grated nutmeg, leading into the long, malty finish. Compared to the current price of the distillery release 18-year, this is a steal.